You ever watch yourself on camera and think, “Why do I look… different?” Music YouTuber Rick Beato did. His hair looked weird, his face looked airbrushed, and the vibe felt totally off.
Spoiler: it wasn’t his imagination.
Turns out, YouTube has been quietly running an AI experiment that “enhances” videos on Shorts. We’re talking:
Sharper shirts
Smooth, Barbie-doll skin
Ears that look like AI gave up halfway (because apparently, AI still struggles with ears 🙃)
And here’s the wild part: YouTube packaged this as a “small machine learning test” that’s supposedly “just like what your phone does.”
But let’s be real— machine learning is a type of AI. And worse? They did all of this without asking creators, giving a warning, or promising an opt-out option.
Creators like Beato (5M+ subs) and his friend Rhett Shull (another big music YouTuber) are not having it. They’re worried this kind of silent AI meddling makes creators look fake and erodes trust with their audiences. Honestly? Fair point. Because if your videos suddenly look like they were rendered in a Pixar studio, that’s a problem.
And hey, this isn’t just a YouTube thing. AI has been rewriting everything we see:
Samsung’s infamous “perfect” Moon photos were AI-generated illusions.
Netflix’s AI remaster of The Cosby Show turned ‘80s sitcoms into a distorted, off-putting nightmare.
Google Pixel’s “Best Take” feature literally stitches together fake smiles so you get that perfect family photo… of a moment that never actually happened.
The pattern is clear: tech keeps “improving” reality until reality doesn’t feel real anymore.
Bottom-line:
AI isn’t just running in the background anymore—it’s quietly editing the internet before it even reaches your eyeballs. And YouTube experimenting on creators’ content without permission? That’s a trust issue time bomb waiting to blow up.
Sure, some folks—like Beato—say they’re fine with it (“YouTube changed my life,” he admits). And yeah, plenty of people are cashing out big with AI tools. But here’s the real question:
If companies can secretly tweak your content, what’s actually real online?
So yeah, if this has you side-eyeing your feed, go read the full review. It’s packed with wild receipts, spicy takes and sharp analysis. (Plus, once you see those warped ears, you’ll never unsee them.)
